


On Heaven and Earth

by QuinsValoria



Category: Ajin: Demi Human, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, 亜人 - 三浦追儺 & 桜井画門 | Ajin - Miura Tsuina & Sakurai Gamon
Genre: Ajin Tsunayoshi Sawada, Ajin are not known, Ajin | Demi-Humans (Ajin), Alternate Universe - Ajin Fusion, Assassination Attempt(s), Blood and Gore, Child Death, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Flame Lore (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), If you watch ajin your well prepared, Is it an attempt if it worked? For like 5 min, Its gonna be dark in a few parts, NO i will not explain (yet), Nana gets some gOSHDANG character development, Not EVERYTHING, Not perminately tho!, Sky Flames are Sticky, Temporary Character Death, but i did research for the deaths, mm that sweet sweet backstory, no beta we die like men, okay?, tw drowning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2020-01-04 17:37:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18348464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuinsValoria/pseuds/QuinsValoria
Summary: Tsuna has known he can't die since he was five years old.It just takes to rest of the world a while to catch up.





	1. Prologue: Shock

**Author's Note:**

> I just got into Ajin last weekend, and let me tell you,
> 
> THERE AREN'T NEARLY ENOUGH FICS AGFGHDJTYYDJTYDJT
> 
>  
> 
> Trigger warning for blood and injury (and death) of a 5 year old.

Tsuna has known he can't die on some level since he was 5 years old.

When the man pressed a glowing finger to his forehead, his world was consumed with a black fog and a being even larger than papa loomed over them. He tries to cry out even as his vision goes dark. 

He wakes seconds after he hits the ground, cradled in his papa's arms as he passes Tsu-kun to his mama. She pads up the stairs to put him to bed.

Some scrap of cockroach instinct says to stay still and quiet, silent and asleep. 

_Play dead._

He clutches a fist into his mom's shirt and peeks one eye half open and watches as the two men talk, casually, as if he hadn't just-

He hadn't _really_ died had he? Even if it felt like it, he was okay now, and mama wasn't worried and mama knows _everything_ so if she wasn't worried, nothing could be wrong, right?

He closed his eyes and pretended with everything inside him it was okay.

  
  
  


It wasn't three days later, after the man had left that he fell down the stairs, coming down for water in the middle of the night. 

He felt off, still wobbly and strange and his feet didn't quite go where he wanted them to. 

So when his socks slid on polished wood, he desperately grabbed for the stair rail and didn't quite make it.

He flew forward, face bashing into a stair and leg twisting, rolling as he hit the ground. One knee was out of joint and his face bleeding where a tooth cut his lip. 

In one universe he made it out fine, only needing a couple stitches and a broken baby tooth pulled, but in this one the first impact hit him just wrong.  
  


He breaks his neck.  
  


He is paralyzed, unable to scream, and goes into shock. 

Several hours later he is dead.

  
  


He wakes up on his back, blood on his face and on his shirt from his bitten lip. He wipes his face with his hand, smearing it.

He wobbles to his feet and crawls up the stairs as the sun rises.

He staggers into his mom's room and up to the futon, tripping and falling onto his hands and knees with a thud.

The noise makes her stir, and she blearily opens her eyes, reaching out to the boy next to her.

“What's wrong Baby? Did you have a nightmare?”

He bursts into tears.

Nana makes a noise of concern and sits up, pulling him closer even as she fumbled for the lamp nearby.

“Tsu-kun, honey what wrong, what- is that blood?!”

He sobs.

  
  


So yes, on some level he is aware.

It takes Tsuna a little while to really understand what had happened. 

Mama and Masaru-sensei kept checking his nose for blood when it was his lip that had really been bitten, but he'd gotten bit lips and scraped knees and he knew what happened wasn't normal. He was five, not stupid.

He'd known he was really, really hurt laying on the stairs, just like he’d known when the man touched his forehead, the stickycoldwrong breaking his brain into pieces, only to wake up like it hadn't happened? 

The same happened this time, the cold and the shock put him to sleep and when he woke up he could move again.

All he really needed to know was that this was a good thing, because mama was upset when Tsukun got hurt, and this meant he could never get too hurt to get better, and he _**never wanted to do that again.**_

He put it out of his mind, but never quite forgot. It wasn't a problem.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Until it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Appropriate for the 4th day of the 4th month, ne? :3


	2. Tsuna: Gunshot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna goes camping. It's the best day ever, until it isn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold! An update! 
> 
> **Tw for drowning, gun violence, and (temporary) character death**

Tsuna is _very incredibly excited oh my god._

At 11 years old, he's in his last year of elementary school, and it time for the class to take a trip before graduation.

A whole weekend out of Namimori! They aren't going far, only to Yunoko in Tochigi prefecture, but it's a whole weekend out camping!!

Some of the girls are less excited, not liking the idea of bugs and dirt and everything else, wishing loudly that they were going to the beach instead. They were pacified by the presence of a lake and hot springs nearby.

Truthfully, Tsuna isn’t sure why they’re doing it this way either, given how previous years did day trips to Kujikuri or Ichinomiya, but he wouldn't complain of an extra day.

There would be a BBQ and fireworks and they even brought in a special instructor to teach them how to fish and cook and safely start fires (and even the _girls_ were excited about that).

And!!! Lucky for him, everyone coming is nice! Sosuke-san and Sota-san who teased him and stole his lunch are both staying at home, Sosuke because he broke his foot kicking a rock and Sota because her mom forgot to sign her form!

They sing songs on the bus and pass around snacks, and Tsuna ends up sitting next to Yamamoto, across from Kyoko and Hana.

It’s nice because they talk to him and Kyoko shares the matcha cakes her mom made, and in Tsuna’s humble opinion, nothing could possibly make this any better. 

When they get there and pile off the bus, the teachers have them draw lots, boys and girls seperately, to pick out sleeping groups and Tsuna ends up with Yamamoto again, along with Seiji-san, and they put up the tent together while _Mr Special Instructor_ Koboi-sensei checks everyone’s tents to make sure they're safe to sleep in and won't fall in the wind.

They make curry rice for dinner, then go to the bonfire and tell ghost stories. 

Koboi sensei tells them about what it was like growing up in america, and brings out marshmallows and chocolate and they learn to make s'mores for dessert. A few people think they’re a little over-sweet but Tsuna doesn't let that stop him. 

He feels warm with happiness.

When the sugar high starts to crash the teachers begin ushering them off to bed, hanging back themselves for a drink and watching sternly to make sure that everyone makes it to the right tent, but pretend not to notice when a couple of the girls sneak in with each other to giggle and whisper.

He wonders why they bother, because he knows for a fact that Michiko-san and Sayaka-san have a tent to themselves and Sayaka-san only snuck into another tent so that Michiko’s boyfriend could sneak in when no one was looking, and everyone knows Kenji-san and Toboe-san have been fooling around for weeks, kissing in the baseball shed, even though they’re both boys and Toboe has a girlfriend in another class besides.

Really, his classmates are _not_ subtle, and Tsuna thinks the adults must be a little dumb not to notice. Maybe they’re just trying to stay out of it? Tsuna can only approve of such a sensible approach, school drama is exhausting enough just to witness, let alone be involved in. (He’s heard that middle and highschool are even worse, and fears for his continued survival.)

Tsuna is glad to be able to lay down, passing out along side Seiji-san and Yamamoto who’d had twice as many toasted marshmallows as Tsuna had and is suffering for it. The night passes quickly, and Tsuna only wakes once when Yamamoto accidentally kicks Seiji-san rolling over and Seiji-san accidentally kicks Tsuna retaliating.

The next day passes in a blur of activity, playing word games and learning to fish (with traps!) and learning to swim in the lake. The teachers say the fireworks are going to go off over the lake that evening, and Tsuna absolutely _cannot_ wait. 

There’s one incident when they’re learning to make fire and one of the other boys catches his sleeve instead of the kindling and Tsuna _does_ get chased and stung by a wasp, but overall, the day seems a great success. 

He’s a little sad that they’re leaving the next day but also not because he kinda misses his mom. This is the first time he's ever been away from home without her overnight, and it feels a little weird.

That evening before the fireworks, Tsuna scopes out the surrounding area for a good firework-watching spot, eventually deciding on the short little cliff where they had been allowed to jump off into the water. Wanting to be responsible, he tells Yamada-sensei, who nods distractedly before going back to her book.

Taking that as permission, he hikes up to the spot using his phone’s flashlight to navigate in the fading light, arriving when his watch says it's about five minutes before the fireworks are scheduled to start.

It’s just as beautiful as he thought it would be. Bright pops and sprays of color, greens and reds, blues and purples and one _really_ loud yellow and white one that reminds him of Kyoko's _really really_ loud brother.

He’s entranced, mind blank with excitement and waiting for the finale when he hears the amused voice of Koboi-sensei coming up behind him.

“Hey, kid, are you supposed to be up here?”

Startlement sends him _shooting_ to his feet and he turns before

The pain comes out of nowhere, a feeling like a punch in the chest knocking the air out of him. He tries to scream and can’t get the breath for it. 

He hits the ground on his back and scrabbles at his chest with both hands.

There’s a click above him and a white flash he doesn’t think is fireworks.

“Sorry about this kid,” he hears, distant, like it’s coming from another room, “I don't like doing kids, but your daddy has enemies in _very_ low places.”

He doesn’t understand, that doesn't make sense, his dad is _dead_ -

He falls asleep to the sound of fireworks, the grand finale flashing across his heavy eyelids.

   
  
  
  
  


He wakes with a start, surrounded by water and gasping desperately for air he can’t find.

  
  
  
  
  
 

He wakes again, and this time he's floating in the water, face up and he splutters, fighting to stay upright. 

It’s dark, and quiet, and there’s still a mild scent of gunpowder still hanging in the air from the fireworks. 

He can see the edge of the cliff a few yards away and kicks his way over, clutching at the rough wall. 

The water is much colder at night, and he suddenly becomes aware of his body shaking. His fingers are nearly numb where they press against the rocks. 

 _He needs to get out of the water._  

He carefully swims along the edge, keeping one hand on the wall as much as possible. The movement warms him and he stops shivering quite so hard even as he continues to gasp. 

He makes it to the steps eventually, to a set of rough stairs a small ways away, footholds cut to make it easier to get out of the water. The first few are slippery with algae and he almost falls before his sandals can get purchase, but manages to climb out, scuffing his knees a bit in the process. They sting sharply in the wind 

He mechanically pulls his shirt off when he gets out, squeezing water out of it and his hair. He puts it back on then feels even colder for it and takes it back off again, carrying it in one hand.

He drips all the way back to the tent, tripping over rocks he can’t see because he can’t find his phone in his pockets. He wants nothing more than dry clothes and his mom. He carefully avoids the teacher’s table, because.

He reaches in and pulls his bag out of the corner it was stashed in. Seiji-san is asleep, but Yamamoto stirs at his entrance, a drop of cold water from his hair splattering on his bare ankle.

“Mnh, Tsuna? You went for a swim?” he mumbles, still mostly asleep.

“Yeah,” he says, blank, “I did.”

The other boy props himself up on one arm. “Did you get a cut your feet or something? I think I smell blood.”

“Go back to sleep Yamamoto.” Tsuna says, quiet.

“Mn,” he agrees, settling back down. By the time Tsuna is changed, he’s snoring.

He wraps his wet clothes in his towel and crawls into his sleeping bag.

He sleeps.

   
  
  
  
  


In the morning, all the teachers can talk about is how Koboi-sensei left in the middle of the night. All his things, even his tent had vanished, and there was no note or any other communication. It was as if the man had never been there in the first place.

“Foreigners,” one teacher sniffed, “so _rude._ ”

   
  
  
  
  


Tsuna is very quiet on the way back, watching out the window and rubbing at a spot on his chest. 

   
  
  
  
  


In Italy, Iemitsu Sawada opens an envelope full of pictures.

In Namimori, Nana Sawada receives a phone call.

“Ah, Darling! Ara, what’s wrong? Tsu-kun? He's upstairs sleeping, he got a dreadful cold while he was away on his school trip, do you need me to wake him? …Hello? ...Darling are you there?”

   
  
  
  
  


Tsuna remembers a time when he was little and fell down the stairs. He had assumed, thinking back, that the whole thing had been some kind of weird nightmare, but maybe there was more to it than he had thought.

(He spends some time the night he gets back trawling through medical websites and concludes it was very likely the shock that killed him, not the broken neck.)

He sort of wonders if that was the first time he died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor tsuna :(
> 
> Incase it was unclear, an assassin from a rival familglia infiltrated tsuna's school trip and killed him, took photos as proof, then kicked his body into the water so it would take more time to discover him missing/let the water erase evidence.
> 
> He sent the pictures to his employer then hauled ass with his money and tried to lay low. A Vongola sniper gets him for the "threat" against iemitsu, who thinks the pictures were faked using mist flames.
> 
> Tsuna receives a _very_ sneaky protection detail, until reborn takes over. Because no-one fucks with reborn.


	3. Tsuna: N/A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves vaguely* Have some garbage words for the new year, start as we mean to go on, right?
> 
> ~~whoops didn't mean to vanish for so long lol? It's been. So many months, sorry for that.~~
> 
> This was my nano project for last November so I have quite a bit written, just need to actually, remember to edit. Ha. Hmm.
> 
> **TW: mild references to suicide and the potential death of a parent, not explicit. No actual deaths this chapter.**

In the aftermath of the lake incident, Tsuna gets sick. 

Some combination of the sustained cold, stress and swallowing lake water kicks his butt with a _vengeance_. He spends most of the first week back shivering helplessly, hacking up gross lumps of _stuff_ and trying not to puke up his breakfast.

As terrible as it was, it was perhaps well timed, getting him excused from the last few days of social activity. He’d finished exams right before the trip, but being able to skive off lingering commitments was definitely good. It gave him time to think.

He isn't... “over it” as such, but for lack of other options, he’s shelved the issue. there's nothing he can really do about the whole thing, so there’s no point. as they say, “ _Compartmentalization is key._ ”

He does do a bit of half hearted googling on his mom’s tablet while he rests - borrowed as he _still_ can't find his phone - but can’t find anything even close to what he experienced. he doesn't think he's some kind of weird vampire or zombie, and he probably isn't some kind of demon (he hopes), so what else is there?

Theres nothing he can do to find out more short of attempting suicide, and… no.

He still isn’t completely sure that this isn’t some kind of weird hallucination or illusion of some kind, a _Yako_ or a _Tengu_ playing a mean trick on him.

He won’t risk it. so far no one has witnessed his strange not-death, so he's happy to leave it for a future him to deal with.

...Didn’t the sensei say something about his father? 

He had, hadn't he? but Tsuna’s dad is dead, has been since he was four years old.

...Right?

His mother had said something about him ‘going to become a star’, and he had thought that meant he was dead, but then… where was his shrine? they have a shrine honouring his grandparents and great uncle in the living room, but no absurdly blond foreigner grinning out at him.

Where _is_ his father then? ~~And really, why hadn’t he thought to question this before??~~

For a few short moments he plays with the idea that his father is some kind of land god or _youkai_ , then he recalls a hazy image of the blond man lounging around in his underwear and drinking, messily stinking up the place with his awful cologne.

Surely gods have at least a bit more class than that, right?

… _Right?_

He gives in to the impulse to hide under the covers like a child and puts the whole thing out of his head.

 

Another thing he realizes distantly is that this is now at least the third or fourth time he has died in his relatively short life. All that in 12 years out of (hopefully) 80 or more is not a great track record for death or undeath or whatever. 

is he just exceptionally unlucky or something? is that what’s happening here? or is this normal and he just hadn’t realized it? something makes him think **no**.

What if whatever weird magic that made him come back stops putting him back together? What if it _doesn’t_?

He ruminates over that little existential crisis for a while, then thinks, suddenly, of his mother. If he's had so many close calls, how many has she?

He screams into his pillow.

The next time she heads to the store he impulsively asks if she wants some company and tries not to feel incredibly guilty at her surprise. 

He spends most of the trip hovering around her elbow, holding her basket and nodding as she talks. An old lady smiles at him, and he blushes but keeps shuffling along in her wake.

Teen or not, he feels no shame for being a little clingy with her until he feels less like she's going to vanish as soon as he looks away. 

(Is this anxiety? Does he have anxiety now? Yuck.)

_(the bit of him that is teenage boy prickles with embarrassment as she frets over him, but a much larger part of him, the part that has no one else, can only glow warmly with pleasure.)_

 

Beyond a bit of concern at first, his mother takes to his sudden clinginess with good cheer and tempered enthusiasm. It’s like she's sure as soon as he realizes what he’s doing he'll stop wanting to hang out with her. He feels terrible and vows not to let it happen again.

Over the next few of weeks she teaches him bits and pieces of cookery, tips and tricks she's learned over her years of motherhood and a short stint in culinary school overseas. 

In between spinning candy floss and learning about cannoli making she tells him stories and tales associated with each dish.

He learns to his surprise that she had actually met his father in Italy when she was studying in a famous sicilian culinary school, wanting to explore her heritage through food. 

She had met him by chance not a week into school and they dated off and on until her second year when she found herself pregnant.

Being a traditional catholic boy he had insisted on marriage and she finished her second year and dropped out to move back to her hometown and into a house bought for her outright, a very generous gift from his rich boss apparently. An oil tycoon, apparently. 

(he remembers the older gentleman he had met the once the grim smile on his face and shivers, eating more friendship bread to hide it.)

“You know I never thought i'd get to share any of this, having a boy.” Nana admits, smiling. she wipes a little chocolate off his nose and he makes a face at her. she makes one back and they laugh.

Soon, he spends more time with her than apart, puttering around with her in the kitchen or lounging together in front of the TV.

They discover a shared taste in TV, watching silly chinese soap operas and anime together, even starting an english show her friend from the market suggested. It's good fun, and they have to agree with her, the main character's _are_ very pretty for westerners. 

When they run out of things to talk about, they invent a few. Nana offers to start teaching him a bit of Italian- or, she says, a little chagrined, they can practice together. 

She's a little rusty. (Okay, a lot rusty. It's been more than ten years since she's used it regularly, so sue her!)

It's fun though, with increasingly ridiculous charades and frequent googling of words, they both learn enough to have somewhat meaningful conversations, usually about whatever they're having for dinner, or the ridiculous level of drama in a particular show. (It turns out Italian is a really, really good language for drama. It probably shouldn't be a surprise.)

 

Not long into the break Tsuna realizes that he's being watched. Him and his mom both. 

Anytime he’s out and about it feels like there’s someone standing, just in his periphery, just out of sight. But when he turns his head, he sees nothing.

It’s not a _bad_ feeling exactly, in fact it feels almost comforting, not unlike a weighted blanket. Despite that, not being able to find the source is a little unsettling. It's a relief to get home and have to feeling disappear.

Soon enough he gets used to it. it turns into background noise, something he can just tune out and ignore. 

 

Summer flies by. It feels a bit like hes blinked and found himself in the future, buying fresh notebooks and getting a new uniform.

His mom tears up when she sees him in it, taking a million pictures and sniffling about how her baby is all grown up. 

He tells her she’s being silly and pretends not to notice the way one hand rests on her stomach, wistful as she watches him do the dishes that night. She’s always wanted more kids, but Iemitsu vanished before she could try for more.

As it gets closer and closer to the start of the year he feels a looming sense of restlessness, like he's _waiting_ for something. Its infuriating.

It's a niggling feeling like he should be studying or maybe he's waiting for package or a holiday or _something_ , and he can't for the life of him figure out what it is. 

He (reluctantly) dismisses it as new school jitters and if he fidgets a little more as they watch things on tv his mom doesn't say anything.

 

Well _he_ certainly feels let down. 

Middle school is actually pretty boring. No weird clubs or absurdly powerful student council, and the closest they get to a class idol is Kyoko, and he watched her eat handfulls of sand for a dare in elementary school. 

He feels cheated. Wasn't middle school supposed to be the beginning of the rest of his life? Anime lied to him.

He ends up wishing he'd kept his metaphorical mouth shut when he learns about the disciplinary committee. A gang full of highschool age thugs in charge of disciplining the populus? the sounds like exactly the wrong kind of trouble to get involved in, even if the Demon Prefect is really nice to watch when he’s fighting.

Not! Worth! The Trouble!

So he does his best to maintain his elementary school attitude and keeps his head down, getting up as early as he can bear, gritting his teeth whenever his new teacher starts mocking him and the other students. 

He maintains his comfortable C average, with a handful of Bs and the rare D, usually in Science. 

He hates being in the same classroom as Nezu-sensei, who is bitter and hates 'low scorers', and maybe children in general, it's hard to tell. Either way, he isn't entirely sure he deserves some of the grades he's been given in that class, but who knows, he's never liked science anyway.

He continues to make time to hang out with his mom on the weekends or when hes free in the evenings, loathe to lose the comfortable routine. 

It's peaceful.

 

Contrary to his previous belief, the lingering feeling of anticipation gets worse, not better.

It's like there's a rubber band winding up in his chest, tighter and tighter as they got closer to- 

Something. He’s not sure what.

Then, maybe a month into the school year, the ‘watching feeling’ suddenly disappears.

He actually startles a little, pausing in the middle of working out a math problem on his worksheet.

He cocks his head, trying to figure out what's changed. 

If he has to put words to the feeling, it's like when the power goes out and suddenly everything you didn't realizes makes noise goes quiet, like the fridge, or the overhead lights.

Tension knots the muscles between his shoulders as he goes back to his worksheet. He feels weird without the eyes on him. Alone. Exposed.

A pencil pokes his arm and he jumps, turning to look at Yamamoto seated on his left.

“Ne, Tsuna,” he whispers loudly, “How do you do this one, i'm stuck.”

It's a question he knows so Tsuna leans over and begins quietly directing him in finding appropriate answer, gesturing with the end of his own pencil.

It earns him a blinding grin and a thumbs up, and Tsuna feels silly. After all, who can feel lonely around people like this?

(The thought is nice, but doesn’t dispel the headache beginning to pinch at the space behind his eyes.)

 

By the time he arrives home his nerves are shot and his head is killing him. The shelter of familiar territory is a relief.

“Tadaima,” he calls half heartedly, hearing his mother's faint “Okaeri!” in reply.

He kicks off his shoes and goes straight to his room to change, before shuffling into the kitchen where his mom is sitting with some tea, reading on her phone.

He pulls down another cup then goes to slump down next to her tiredly.

She eyes him over the screen as he pours, frowning a little as she takes in his expression.

“Not feeling well?” she asks, and starts to shake his head but thinks better of it.

“Headache,” he murmurs in reply. 

She hums understandingly.

She reaches a hand out to feel his forehead and he goes obligingly still, waiting until she's done to sip at his drink. Jasmine, nice.

“No fever,” she announces, getting up. “Drink your tea, i'll get you a painkiller.”

She kisses his head as she moves past him and he already feels a bit better through osmosis or something. That's how that works, right? Right.

When hes done with his tea she gently prods him up and off to bed for a nap before dinner.

The sleep helps a lot and they eat quietly. 

He shamefully admits his most recent grade, a D minus. It's in Science, of course, the third of its kind since the start of the year, and the third week in a row. Tsuna only tiredly wondered how Nezu-sensei had time to grade them all. 

Nana sighs a little, sounding disappointed but unsurprised. he inwardly cringes and outwardly hunches over his rice bowl, eyes down.

She’s quiet for a minute, picking thoughtfully at her food.

“What do you think of getting a tutor?”

He halfway makes a face, but thinks about it.

“It might help-” he admits, frowning. “-but can we afford that? they’re pretty pricy aren't they?”

She waves off his concern, smiling affectionately.

“We can afford it just fine, and anyway I wouldn't have brought  it up if I didn't have someone in mind. I've been thinking about it for a while now.”

He makes another face, a token complaint, but agrees that that's fair.

She pads over to the fridge and pulls a brightly colored piece of paper from under a magnet, carefully removing it from the mess of bills, grocery lists and coupons, put there for a lack of anywhere better to put them.

She drops back into her seat and flicks it across to him.

“This came in the mail today, I wanted to get your opinion before calling but it seems like a pretty good deal, no?”

He examines it curiously.

Glossy, professional-looking paper in shades of yellow and orange, with a short personal summary, a phone number and a gmail account. A young Italian in Japan on a working visa, offering tutoring in exchange for room and board, available immediately. Fluent in Italian, Japanese and English, and with a Masters degree in mathematics and previous experience as a tutor at middle and highschool level. An odd name, something in english he thinks.

The area code on the phone number is local, so likely recently bought. No headshot, which was a little odd but understandable given Japan’s usual discomfort with foreign looks. It had a cheesy draw line of 'I will raise your child to be a leader of his generation'.

The line was a little odd, but again, that could be because the tutor was foreign. He had heard they could be a bit over dramatic trying to encourage a sale.

He raises an eyebrow and looks at her and she nods, agreeing with the unspoken thought.

"I thought we might give him a call, see if he's still available, and if not, my friend Michiko's boy just graduated and would be willing to work for a fair price."

Nothing about it seemed too sketchy, though something about it niggled him a little. he couldn't figure out what, and decided it didn't matter for the moment.

“Well,” he states. “There’s no harm in calling him, ne?”

They decide its still early enough and call him together. luckily enough he is still available, and agrees to meet them at the house the next day, after Tsuna gets out of school.

Tsuna feels a flicker of reluctant excitement. The phone's speaker makes him sound a little tinny and high pitched but his voice is smooth and educated, with the faint lilt of an accent like people he's heard around town.

He sounds confident and reassuring, and if anyone can get his science grade up to par, he thinks it'll be someone like that.

...Yeah that sounds like a whole lot of bullshit when he puts it like that. Oh well, it'll be interesting either way, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yako: a rouge fox not under Inari, prone to playing (occasionally lethal) tricks on humans. A force of chaos by all accounts. Fun at parties but not so fun as enemies.
> 
> Tengu: a race of winged youkai, some accounts say they play mean tricks on humans, others don't. Less fun at parties, oppinions are mixed.
> 
>  
> 
> ~~guess what happens next chapter, hey hey guess :3~~
> 
>  Feel free to chat at me in the comments!
> 
> My main tumblr is  [here](http://littlemisswingsandthings.tumblr.com) but if you only want to chat about/get updates one my work here, feel free to HMU  [here](http://quinsvaloria.tumblr.com).


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